


The Burden of Perfection

by victoria_p (musesfool)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Community: halfamoon, Food, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-14
Updated: 2009-02-14
Packaged: 2017-10-07 05:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/pseuds/victoria_p
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna is hungry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Burden of Perfection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silveronthetree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveronthetree/gifts).



> for silveronthetree, who requested Anna, pie for halfamoon 2009.

I ate that apple because I was hungry.  
I wanted what lay outside of Paradise,   
a world without the burden of perfection. 

~*~

When Anna comes to earth this time, it's because she's sent. She is no longer Anna, and she no longer has private thoughts or the ability to think of herself as such, but once she is incarnate--grace made flesh, embodied in a vessel who prayed for God's healing mercy--the old traitorous thoughts return.

The vessel's body is ill, but Anna heals her simply by inhabiting her, the cancer unable to withstand angelic grace.

Once the cancer is gone, Anna (the vessel; she is not Anna anymore) is hungry, and she finds a diner and feeds it--bacon cheeseburger, French fries, and a Coke (the real thing, no need for diet now).

She eats slowly, savoring each salty, greasy bite and enjoying the ability to taste, to feel hungry, to feel full--a luxury she's been denied too long. Even burning the tip of her tongue is an occasion for joy, a sensation she can't feel when she is only herself.

She catches the scent of fresh apple pie as she's finishing her fries, and though moments before she was groaningly full, her mouth waters and her stomach gurgles with need. She smiles gratefully when the waitress brings her a slice--warm and fragrant, piled high with fluffy white whipped cream like a false imitation of her wings.

She closes her eyes, lets the flavors mingle on her tongue--tangy-tart apple, spicy cinnamon and nutmeg, sweet cream--and when she opens them, Castiel is sitting at the counter beside her. He calls her by her true name and she forces herself not to correct him.

Instead, she offers him a bite. "You should try it."

"We don't need to eat."

"The vessel needs nourishment." She lies with the skill and ease of a human, surprising both of them.

He lets the lie stand, takes the fork and tastes.

Anna watches and smiles.

end

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> Title and quote from [**_Eve's Red Dress_**](http://musesfool.livejournal.com/1545035.html) by Diane Lockward


End file.
